The present invention relates to agricultural equipment adaptable to perform a variety of functions as it is moved through a field, and more specifically to such equipment which includes selectively adjustable and interchangeable mechanism for laterally positioning a pair of soil or crop engaging members to perform different functions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,268 of Wellington W. Porter discloses apparatus including a pair of counter-rotating disks having overlapped peripheries for movement along a row of crops to sever upper portions of the plants from underlying portions, or to dig up underground portions of the plants or crops, and deposit them in windrows for later retreival. The disks may be raised and lowered in unison by means of a parallelogram linkage and angle of the parallel planes of the overlapped disks with respect to the ground is also selectively adjustable. U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,613 of the same inventor discloses harvesting apparatus including a pair of disks of unique configuration mounted in overlapped relation for engaging and severing the stems of plants such as tomatoes, and delivering the plants rearwardly to a section for separating the fruit from the plants.
While the disks of the latter-mentioned patent may advantageously be substituted for those disclosed with the apparatus of the former, the blades are still mounted in the same relative positions. Once mounted, the blades are rotatable relative to one another but are not otherwise relatively movable. The raising and lowering, as well as the tilting movement is performed by moving the blades together, without changing their positions relative to one another. This limits utility of the apparatus essentially to the plant cutting or digging operations, with the plants or crops being windrowed or delivered to another section of harvesting apparatus, as described in the aforementioned patents.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide, in an agricultural implement including a pair of counter-rotating disks, means permitting selective adjustment of the relative lateral positions of the axes of rotation of the disks to adapt the implement to perform different functions.
Another object is to provide novel and improved apparatus for selectively adjusting the lateral spacing of the axes of rotation of a pair of flat disks mounted at the forward end of an agricultural implement while maintaining the axes in parallel relation.
Other objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.